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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29402400">The Web Doesn't Swing Far from the Tree</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream'>Mintstream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Penny Parker Febuwhump 2021 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Female Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Protective Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:01:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29402400</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintstream/pseuds/Mintstream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There were few things that Penny liked about her suit, being as unprofessional and uncool looking as it was, but she had to admit it was amazing at hiding her identity. The Daily Bugle had declared her as 'Spider-Man' when she'd first popped up a couple of months ago, and she didn't think she'd ever felt so relieved. Nothing would be worse than people realizing that the small time vigilante that patrolled all the way from Manhattan to the edge of Queens was actually Penelope Stark.</p>
<p>The worst person to realize would be her dad. To say that he was overprotective was a sever understatement. It wasn't like she could blame him--he was a superhero, it was kind of his job to be protective, and after everything that had happened over the years with Obadiah and Hammer and Loki and Killian and literally everything else, she got it. At least, she got it now. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Day 14: "I didn't mean it"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Penny Parker Febuwhump 2021 [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114535</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Web Doesn't Swing Far from the Tree</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this request was long overdue :)) here ya go buddy!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were few things that Penny liked about her suit, being as unprofessional and uncool looking as it was, but she had to admit it was <em>amazing </em>at hiding her identity. The Daily Bugle had declared her as 'Spider-Man' when she'd first popped up a couple of months ago, and she didn't think she'd ever felt so relieved. Nothing would be worse than people realizing that the small time vigilante that patrolled all the way from Manhattan to the edge of Queens was actually Penelope Stark.</p>
<p>The worst person to realize would be her dad. To say that he was overprotective was a <em>sever </em>understatement. It wasn't like she could blame him--he was a superhero, it was kind of his <em>job </em>to be protective, and after everything that had happened over the years with Obadiah and Hammer and Loki and Killian and literally everything else, she got it. At least, she got it <em>now. </em></p>
<p>Penny had always been close to her Aunt May and Uncle Ben. May was the sister of her mother, who had died when she was young and had led to her being in Tony's full custody, but she'd still practically grown up with them. When days had become too dangerous, or just for normal family stay-overs, Penny had stayed with them. The teenager had lived with them for close to a week when the Avengers were breaking up, her losing her mind with worry as she watched to news to try and keep up with every arrest and every injury and every horrible thing that went wrong.</p>
<p>She hadn't let Dad go for at least two hours when she'd gotten to see him again.</p>
<p>Despite the craziness of the week, the girl had still gone to school, and she'd still gone on the field trip to Oscorp. Maybe if she'd been less anxious, she wouldn't have wandered off, but as it was, the girl had woken up the next day with a small scar on her hand, an ache on her throat from throwing up so much during the night, and abs like she'd never thought she could have.</p>
<p>She's also sprouted up a few inches overnight, and suddenly all of her pants fit a little too awkwardly. She's worn her skirts the rest of that week.</p>
<p>Barely a month later, by which she'd gotten relatively accustomed to her new powers but still had yet to tell anyone (Dad was always so worried about everything, he didn't need another thing on his plate), she was staying with her aunt and uncle again. Dad, Pepper, and Uncle Rhodey were all in DC for some big government thing that she wasn't allowed to tag along for, not that she minded that much. She loved her aunt and uncle.</p>
<p>But she guessed she didn't love Ben enough to save him.</p>
<p>There had been a gunshot, a thunder crack, a scream, and blood pooling on the ground. May hadn't been able to get hold of Dad until the next morning.</p>
<p>That had been nearly six months ago now, and so it had been six months since she'd donned the pretty rough red and blue suit, and nobody was none the wiser. Sometimes she wished Dad knew about her powers and her patrols that often left her bloody and terrified when she crawled into their Manhattan penthouse. But she knew he wouldn't let her be a superhero anymore, so she bit her lip whenever she thought about it and kept it to herself.</p>
<p>Penny sighed, swiveling in her spinny chair as she glared at her window. Rain poured down in droves outside. Not great patrolling weather--on <em>Saturday! </em>One of her two days of complete patrolling. Whoever had decided to make it rain was incredibly rude.</p>
<p>She sighed again, turning back to her desk and twirling the pencil in her hand. She glanced between her computer and her door, knowing she really should be writing her lab, buttttt--</p>
<p>The teenager looked up videos of 'Spider-Man,' excited to see that there were more videos of her popping up on YouTube. She clicked on the most popular one, titled 'mr. spider-man doing his part,' and settled down to watch. And then she watched another one. And another one. And <em>another </em>one. Penny wasn't, like, a narcissist or anything, but this was insanely more entertaining than doing her homework. Besides, she excused, she was just looking at herself retroactively. She needed to learn from past mistakes to improve, after all.</p>
<p>After an hour, there was a knock at her door. Penny paused the video hurriedly, announcing, "Come in!" to whoever was at the door. Tony walked in, a small smile on his lips as he stepped over to where she sat in her chair.</p>
<p>"Hey, kid," he said, ruffling her hair, "How's the homework?"</p>
<p>"Uhhh, boring?"</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow, "Are you not doing your homework?"</p>
<p>"Yes? No?" He stared at her. "Yeah, I'm not doing my homework. But it's really boring! And I can just do it before class anyway, it won't take long."</p>
<p>"Uhuh. And what are you doing instead? Watching one of your Shrubs or something?"</p>
<p><em>"Vine, </em>Dad, not <em>Shrub," </em>she complained, batting his hand away, but was unable to stop her dad as he clicked over to the tab she'd covered.</p>
<p>"Oooooo, looking at Spider-<em>Man, </em>huh?"</p>
<p>"DAAaaaaad!!" she groaned, getting out of her chair and pushing him towards the door playfully, "It's not like that!!"</p>
<p>A mirthful grin was plastered on his face as he looked over his shoulder at her, catching himself in the doorway, "Friday? How long has she been watching videos of Spider-Man?"</p>
<p>"An hour and a half, sir."</p>
<p>Penny glared up at the ceiling, "Traitor. Go away, Dad."</p>
<p>"Okayyyyyy, but if I see Spidey, I'll let him know he has a secret admirer."</p>
<p>She shoved him out the door and slammed it behind him, her cheeks burning. She groaned loudly--her father chuckled outside the door in response, calling "Dinner in twenty!"--and went back to her desk in annoyance. At the very least, she guessed she should be glad that Dad didn't think that <em>she </em>was in fact Spider-Man.</p>
<p>Of course, good things didn't last forever.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny swung through the air, the warm spring air making her a little too hot in her sweatshirt and pants, but otherwise the weather was nice. The patrol had been rather nice too, with a good amount of action, some flips performed for small children waving excitedly at her, and no surprise calls from Dad. She'd told him he was at Ned's, and he usually didn't call if she was, so it was fine. If he did though, she and her friend had installed a way to answer his calls from the goggles on her suit so that she wouldn't have to go fishing for her phone.</p>
<p>Spider-Man let out a whoop, flipping in air before stopping on the railing of a building's fire escape, peering over the crowd below. It was busy, of course, with plenty of street vendors. Her stomach growled, and she began to rummage through her pockets, sure that she had a twenty dollar bill or two to get a--</p>
<p>Penny froze, her hairs raising and her head tingling. She swiveled from where she was crouched, her eyes widening at the sight of a robot coming her way. It was too fast, and there was no time to move as it barreled against her. Its metal hands clamped against her throat, ramming her into the nearest building and punching her through the wall.</p>
<p>There were screams as the wall collapsed under the force, but the robot--a cruel imitation of an Iron Man suit--didn't stop. Dark, camera eyes stared down at her, screwing as they zoomed in. A voice, robotic and familiar, chilled her to the bone.</p>
<p>"Hey, Penny."</p>
<p>She gasped, clawing at the hands as her eyes widened. How did they know!? Who was this? Why were they attacking her? The fears ran a mile a minute, but in the end she settled on the most important question: How do I get away <em>without </em>Dad finding out about this?</p>
<p>She didn't have an answer, so she just settled on fighting back for now.</p>
<p>Penny kicked as hard as she could against the robot, sending it flying back out of the hole the two had made. Neither stayed still for long.</p>
<p>The teenager scrambled up, jumping out of the hole as fast as she could. She shot out a web and dipped down, attempting an escape. Or, at least somewhere that <em>wasn't </em>surrounded by bunches of people all pulling out phones to record the sight of a robot chasing down the vigilante of New York.</p>
<p>"Get back here, <em>Spider-Man!" </em>the robot called, and once again she was hit by the fact that this voice <em>was </em>familiar. She just wished she knew where, then maybe she'd understand <em>why </em>they were attacking her. It was kinda rude.</p>
<p>"No!" she yelled back, twisting into another alleyway and picking up speed, "You're gonna have to catch me first!"</p>
<p>"I can do that!"</p>
<p>Of course they could.</p>
<p>And they did.</p>
<p>The Iron Man imitation caught up with her easily. Her senses banged once more before metal fingers clamped around her foot, yanking her out of her arcing loop. She tried to hold onto her web that was attached to a nearby building, gripping with all her might to not get taken, but the robot looked down and blasted at her web.</p>
<p>The two blasted into the air, higher and higher and higher until they were up in the clouds. She screamed in confusion, trying to force herself up and break the hands clutched to her ankle, but they wouldn't give.</p>
<p>"Let me go!!" she cried.</p>
<p>"Okay, sweetheart."</p>
<p>One metal hand did, gripping her wrists and snapping each webshooter. Her eyes widened in terror.</p>
<p>"Tell your dad I said hi."</p>
<p>She was dropped. She screamed.</p>
<p>The teenager hurtled through the air, twisting over in the air a thousand times, the city coming in and out of view as she attempted and failed to right herself. What could she do? What could she do? <em>What could she do?</em></p>
<p>"Call Dad!" she yelled, hoping her goggles worked well enough to pick up on the command. There was a ringing, and then an answering click.</p>
<p>"Hey, Shortcake," her father greeted, he paused. "What's all that wind? Aren't you with Ned?"</p>
<p>She tried to let out a <em>calm </em>response.</p>
<p>
  <em> "SomerobotcameandgrabbedmeandliftedmeupintothecloudsandhebrokemywebshootersbecausealsoimetheSpiderguyandIthinkImgoingtodieDadplease!!"</em>
</p>
<p>"...What?"</p>
<p>"SOME GUY GRABBED ME AND NOW IM FALLING AND IM THE SPIDER GUY!!"</p>
<p>There were no questions, no more confusion, just a simple and quick, "Stay on the phone I'm coming to get you."</p>
<p>"Okay, okay, um, hurry please," she pleaded. The city was inching closer with every second, and she suddenly knew that her dad wouldn't be able to get to her fast enough. She knew he was rushing, and that he was trying to his best, but she counted less than thirty seconds before she hit the nearest building.</p>
<p>"Dad, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Her voice was cracking and Dad seemed to catch onto their meaning.</p>
<p>"It's okay, it's okay. I'm coming to get you, I'm not mad, honey. I'm not mad."</p>
<p>"I'm so sorry." The buildings were right under her. "I just--after Ben--"</p>
<p>
  <em>"I'm coming to get you. It's okay."</em>
</p>
<p>"I'm scared, Dad."</p>
<p>That was the last thing she said before she hit the ground. The last thing she thought was that she suddenly remembered where she knew that voice from.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>"I'm scared, Dad."</em>
</p>
<p>And then nothing.</p>
<p>"Penny!" Tony yelled on the line, but there was no response, and logically he knew why. He'd heard the choked grunt of pain that had cut off abruptly. He'd head the crashing against the ground--similar to Rhodey, <em>too </em>similar to Rhodey--and the screams of people as a presumably red clad body had tumbled down from the sky.</p>
<p>Someone had hurt his kid, and he'd been too late. By barely ten seconds.</p>
<p>He could see her small figure, broken against the ground as strangers slowly crept up to her, wary. He zoomed down, scrambling to hold out his repulsors as he clanked down on the ground, ripping out of the suit the moment it opened for him. Not her, <em>please, </em>anyone but her. Not his baby.</p>
<p><em>"Bambina," </em>he breathed. He kneeled beside her on the road where cracks had splintered out under her. Desperate hands gripped onto the dumb red sweatshirt, turning her over to face him. She was limp in his hand, "Please, no. <em>Please."</em></p>
<p>He pulled the mask up to her nose, pressing his fingers to her neck.</p>
<p>
  <em>Thump...</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Thump.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighed in temporary relief. She was alive.</p>
<p>Gently as he could, he picked the girl up in his arms, stepped back into his suit--all while ignoring phones and questions in his face--and flew back to the tower.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Penny didn't wake up for another thirty-two hours, and Tony didn't leave the entire time. Helen said her body was just trying to fix itself, and that it was doing a miraculous job. Her spine had been broken when she'd been brought to the tower, now--almost nothing. Just bruises and, Helen assured, a lot of pain whenever she woke up.</p>
<p>Tony clamped his eyes shut, rubbing a gentle thumb over her soft hand. A whimpered groan followed.</p>
<p>The man's head shot up as his little girl's eyes blinked open, fluttering before squeezing back at the lights.</p>
<p>"Friday," he mumbled, "Lights at 25%."</p>
<p>The room darkened, and this time when Penny's eyes opened, they stayed open. Two pieces of copper stared at him, heavy and bright at the same time. She rasped, "Hi, Dad."</p>
<p>Tony didn't waste any time.</p>
<p>The father wrapped his daughter in a hug, pressing a kiss to her hair before burying his nose in her curls. His left hand shook with unstoppable fear.</p>
<p>"God, please don't do that again. Don't <em>ever </em>scare me like that, <em>please."</em></p>
<p>"I'm sorry," she mumbled, a hesitant hand curling around him. She winced as she moved.</p>
<p>He broke apart, slumping back into his chair. "How's the pain? Cho said you'd need more because of your metabolism. I can tell the doctors to up it, but we don't know how much will overdose you so we're gonna have to--"</p>
<p>"You're not mad?"</p>
<p>Tony blinked. He sighed. "I don't have the ability to be mad right now, bambina. I just want you to be okay. We'll talk about you sneaking out later, when you're fully conscious."</p>
<p>She sniffled, "I'm still sorry. I just--I couldn't save Ben. I already had these powers and I didn't save him and it's my fault that he's--"</p>
<p>"No, no," Tony interrupted. "It's not your fault, bambina. It's not your fault. Ben protected you, because he loved you. He wouldn't have done anything different, even if he knew you had superpowers. You know that."</p>
<p>She was crying now. "I still let him die. I didn't mean to for it to happen. I didn't mean it."</p>
<p>"No you didn't, honey," he assured, "It's okay, you didn't let him die."</p>
<p>He could see her eyes drooping once more, her lids heavy with sleep and pain. He wiped the tears away under her eyes with a gentle thumb and pressed another kiss to her forehead.</p>
<p>"It's okay, baby. Just go to sleep. I'll be right here."</p>
<p>And he would be. He would be there until he couldn't be there anymore, when hands gripped desperately on ashes being swept away by an unfamiliar wind. And he would be there when she reappeared, a gentle kiss to her forehead once more.</p>
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